One of the most spectacular spectacles in the sky will be returning to Fort Lauderdale Beach in just a few weeks.
Come April 28-29, the Lauderdale Air Show will launch, featuring top-notch military aircraft along with the country’s edgiest aerobatic pilots.
One of them is Michael Goulian, who will fly his plane at about 275 mph, do flips and turns, and even fly backwards.
"It's one of those shows where a fan will look at the sky and say 'I can't believe that an airplane can actually do that,’” he said.
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will headline the show, which will also feature numerous civilian performers, including “Malibu” Chuck Aaron, who claims to be the only civilian licensed to perform helicopter aerobatics in the country. He will pilot the Red Bull Helicopter.
The Fort Lauderdale Air and Sea Show used to wow hundreds of thousands of people on Fort Lauderdale Beach, but several years ago the main sponsor, McDonald’s, pulled its support. The show had difficult surviving life after the McDonald’s pullout, and the last show was held in 2007.
A scaled-back version nearly got off the ground in 2010.
Local
One of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler’s promises was to bring back the air show, and he’s making good on that promise.
Seiler says the city is looking forward to the same economic impact that it enjoyed years ago.
“We had hundreds of thousands of visitors on Fort Lauderdale Beach, hundreds of thousands of locals on Fort Lauderdale Beach, the economic impact over the course of the weekend was $5 (million) to $10 million,” he said.
Not only is Seiler thrilled about the return of the air show, but so is Jeff Rudd, who owns the Treasure Trove pub on the beach.
"It brings everybody to the area because summer is coming and summer is very slow down here, so it's one last push before summer is here,” Rudd said.
